Anilao Pier

As the sun sinks into the ocean in bright orange and red, the westward view is stunning—but turning to look at the dive site itself may feel uninspiring at first. The pier area looks like nothing special: a cement dock and a small collection of buildings in the village of Anilao. But don’t let that fool you—this is one of the premier night dives on the planet.

Your adventure begins once you hit the black water and light up the shallow bottom. Initially, it may feel like nothing but sand and patches of sea grass. Then your guide will bring you to the pier wall—where the real magic begins.

This entire dive is very shallow, so move slowly and keep a sharp eye out. The pier wall hides an incredible variety of bizarre and fascinating marine creatures. Crack your light into every hole and you’ll discover weird alien eyes staring back—glass shrimp, banded coral shrimp, crabs, and various eels that may look intimidating but are docile and often curious about your lights.

Further along the wall, the terrain transitions into a small hard coral area. At night, this coral serves as refuge for painted frogfish, pipefish, and leaf scorpionfish (*Taenianotus triacanthus*). These ambush predators are remarkably well camouflaged, often displaying colors ranging from green to brown to ghostly white.

The final section of the dive is the broad sandy plain that stretches from the pier down toward Majuben village. Although it appears barren, this is a classic muck dive environment rich with life. Octopus, crabs, shrimps, juvenile fish, and stargazers all inhabit this area, waiting to ambush prey in the sand.

Keep an eye out for tiny bobtail squid—bright-eyed, iridescent, and incredibly photogenic. These cephalopods are more closely related to cuttlefish than squid and display colors that seem almost unreal.

For something completely different, the Anilao Pier is also famous for Blackwater Bonfire dives. Divers place lights in the sand and wait as strange creatures drift in from the deep: larval fish, molting shrimp, jellyfish, and translucent alien-like animals with bright phosphorescent patches. It’s a surreal, otherworldly experience.

This dive never disappoints—every visit brings new, weird critters from the black deep.